my second life

hi everyone! well i spent the weekend creating my second life. i must admit it was pretty fun tweaking my character n all, i guess i can see the point of having a second life- most people want a better life for themselves, so if u could make a second life that was better than your first one, i would spend more time on that too. right? right.
there are really ALL SORTS of people on second life, i conducted some interviews and as expected some were nice, some were rude and alot were just plain weird. i found most people to be quite....what is the word...vain? well they strive to create the "perfect life" i guess. they hang out at the "cool" places (i presume they are cool) wear the clothes they would ideally wear in real life (maybe their body type doesn't fit in real life) etcetcetc. but i realise even though its virtual reality, it's JUST LIKE real life- u need alot of money to buy nice things (real money to buy virtual things) be it clothes, food, property, a hot tub even, so u have to be rich (in real life) to enjoy your virtual life.
most people i interacted with said they were on second life because they liked to meet new people, and they would not have to be afraid of being judged (although isn't your character being judged?) some said they met girlfriends/boyfriends through second life and a few said they even had a daily routine of what time of the day they would log onto second life, mostly because their friends would log on at roughly the same time as well.
ive only had 2 or 3 days to play with second life, more to come soon!

See You 'In World'?

This is me in a virtual NYC....looks nothing like it....and there was no one around!

For those of you in the dark about Second Life, it is an online reality in which you create a virtual self, make virtual friends, live in a virtual home, purchase virtual goods and even..if you want... create virtual art and put on virtual shows. Almost anything you might want to do in reality (or 'RL' -short for real life as Second Life-ers say) you can do in SL, you can even have intimate relationships, get married, become pregnant and have children. I choose to do my research using the IDEO model of Rapid Ethnography, for the past few days I have tried my best to become part of the SL world.

I must admit, it has not been easy- when your having trouble just navigating your way around the tool bar it can become quite challenging to make friends. As of right now I have about five actual 'friends'- this means I can see when they sign off and 'on-world' (SL slang for being online). All of these people I met while 'teleporting' around to different areas, I went to a virtual club, a virtual beach and a virtual island (all places created and owned by different users). Although the landscapes were different I did observe many commonalities between those around me- all of the people I spoke with sort of had the same idea about SL.
Each of them had a good looking physique and most said that they looked like their character in real life yet not as physicly fit, a few admitted to me that they looked nothing like their character. All except one said it was a culture, explain that SL has its own specific set of rules and standards, it posses a learned set of beliefs that differ from RL and any other culture. Most admitted that SL gave them the ability to say whatever they wanted and although they were friendly in RL, SL allowed them to really let loose. One guy said he met 5 girlfriends over SL, "One looked exactly like Paris Hilton!", he bragged. All of the people I talked to said their favorite thing to do was interact with others by joining groups of interest and chatting (many brought up sex) they all agreed it was easier to meet people on Second Life then in real life particulary because, "the site draws in the same type of person to begin with, I think we're all nerds so we get to talking easier.", one girl said.


Second Life has its many of its own rituals and traditions, in fact SL is more many cultures within a larger culture of the social network. Many of the events that you might attend on SL happen at specific times of day and if you don't want to show up to an empty location you must arrive on time, it was not uncommon for me to be asked if I knew of "anything fun" going on. SL has a certain etiquite- you cant just say anything to anyone- there is a whole section of the second life main page deticated to this and you can attend SL etiquite classes every thursday night at 9. It is easy for a seasoned SL-er to tell who is new and who is not, who has a full membership and who does not- you need to be a full member in order to use your 'Linden dollars' ($1=$500 Linden) to purchase a house, clothing (from American Apparel perhaps) or anything else for that matter. I found it to be quite elitist, I can only liken the feeling to that of being the new kid in the back of the bus with a bunch of upper-classman standing around laughing.
A sense of ownership was very much a defining point in SL culture, creating your name, your own look, home and life style seemed of utmost importance. Out of the group of 15 or so I spoke with over a few nights most said they spent most of their time 'designing themselves', second only to chatting with others and visiting clubs. Everyone I spoke with seemed to care very much about they way they looked and portrayed themselves to others.

Overall the most shocking thing to me about this culture is how addictive it is, it really allows you to become someone else and do things you would never dream of doing in real life. Customizing the way you look is just the tip of the ice berg, you can truly BE someone else and I think that this is what is most appealing. This culture is incredibly specific and it is easy to feel as if you are on the outside- trying to truly BE one a SL user has brought me much closer to understanding who these people really are, and what they make up as a group. I think we have finally hit the nail on the head- Second Life is a culture!

Visiting a Virtual 'Sex Mall/Dance Club'...I met two of my 'friends' here.
I decided to go bald... I couldnt decide on on a style...do you like it?

me with hair again...talking to a bunch of friendly guys who all congrigated here on this island to chat (and chase girls?)

Street Art Vendor Culture

On Monday, September 15th, we (Naomi and Alexa) spent roughly four hours in union square park trying to emmerse ourselves in the artist vendor culture. We initially felt the best way to immerse ourselves would be to set up our own stand, but as we soon learned that would be a nearly impossible feat as you must have a registered tax receipt in order to set up shop. Our second best idea was to ask the already set-up vendors if we could spend part of the day with them and see what it was like behind the scenes. We offered to help out with whatever they needed. Some of us just let us stand there and observe, while others allowed us to be more hands on and interact with the customers. At one booth, we even helped to sell a painting for $50. Altogether, we helped out at four booth, but ended up spending the majority of our time with the "bicycle lady." She, more than anyone, seemed most eager to give us information about arist vedor life and all that it entails. We learned from her that if you are a successful enough street artist, you can afford to store your work in a storage locker on 13th street, as as not to have to lug your stuff back and forth everyday like she had to. If it is raining and you cannot get home or cannot get your stuff to the locker, most people use shower curtains as a backup emergency plan. Regardless of weather, Saturdays always seem to be the most profitable day.
Another woman that we sat with told us that she and others came to union square because "all of our studios are very close, in the east village and what not, so it is convenient. And we all know each other. So it becomes like our own little community."

For Goth Culture

Hey guys, I'm not sure if you already know, but FIT is having an exhibition on goth culture. It's called Gothic: Dark Glamour.
Here's the link:
http://www.fitnyc.edu/aspx/Content.aspx?menu=FutureGlobal:Museum:Exhibitions

Suzan Seo: Football Culture

For Tuesday's assignment, Rudya and I explored the social practice of fantasy leagues. Since both of us know close to nothing about sports, we had to do a lot of research about players, their stats, what they're good for, etc.

So we focused on learning how fantasy leagues work. We couldn't create our own league since football season has started already, but we borrowed somebody else's team and researched all the team members, all their stats, and if we should make any moves (like benching someone and bringing in someone else) for next week's games. We followed up on the Sunday games and really hoped that we were going to win, but we lost.

After doing all the fantasy league research, we thought it would be interesting to see how much time fans are spending watching tv/highlights, going on espn.com, etc. So we asked some football fanatics to log how much time they spend on football for the next week.

Hopefully something interesting will come of it!

empathy underground

In the mosaic lined tunnel of the Times Square subway station we approached a man playing guitar and singing. We waited for him to finish his song and than proceeded with the usual questions. His name was Victor, we learned he had been playing guitar for almost 20 years and in the subway for three. His primary motive was one we had not come across before- he played to spread the word of Jesus. Victor said he preforms at various stations everyday except Friday and Sunday which are reserved for church and prayer. He said the money he makes is just to get by so he continue his work spreading the word of the lord. Victor is the first performer we have met who believes this is what he was "chosen to do."
We asked if we could sit with him awhile as he played and he happily obliged. Initially I was a little uncomfortable (as I always am when any attention is being drawn to me). The stream of people flowed incessantly, but few gave more than a glance to the three of us. Victor was unfazed by the lack of acknowledgment from the crowd. It seemed rather funny that all I had to do to switch from a member of the MTA riding masses to a supporter and associate of Victor was decide to do so. I was still feeling awkward when a woman threw some loose change in Victor's guitar case and smiled at him. The genuine look of joy and thankfulness on his face was what really got me to begin to empathize. I realized that he was not thankful for this womans pocket change but for the fact that she was listening.
This lead me to recall a night I spent with my friend performing in the subway. This connection was also key because truthfully empathizing with a middle-aged Jesus freak is no easy feat for me. I remembered how excited I was with every dollar, every coin my friend Jonny received. The excitement was for the affirmation. It dawned on me that busking is one of the most direct societal examples of money equaling success. When you're playing for hundreds of people who don't acknowledge you, the slightest smile or bobbing of the head means so much.

raw food culture

live live (10th street btwn 1st ave and ave a)

live live is a friendly raw food store, it carries only organic and raw products. while browsing the store we began to make small talk with each costumer. greg (our new friend) helped us to find the best products, ranging from oils to chocolate and vitamins to lotions also helped us to understand what it takes and what makes you apart of raw food culture. he was very honest and blunt, about the practice of raw food and its interactions with his life. trying to help us understand he gave us a great idea and recipe. he demonstrated to us how to make a zucchini "pasta" using regular ingredients to make the sauce, by putting vegetables through a garnishing machine. Other techniques that differentiate raw foodist from regular eaters is sprouting, which is the process of planting you own live food, which stays live till the second you enjoy it. it was really interesting for us to be viewed as people interested in raw food culture compared to "students" doing a research project.  while in conversation with greg another raw foodist came over to us and gave us her card. her name is rose-marie swift makeup artist and founder of rms beauty (www.beautytruth.com and www.rmsbeauty.com) she is doing an organic raw makeup and cosmetic line. much different than the "organic" lines already created.  raw food culture goes way beyond the act of physically eating the food, it is all about sustainability, being pure and having positive energy.living in nyc and being a raw foodist has an advantage that only raw foodist can see, they feel as if they truely conncet with nature in an urban setting. they find without raw food there is no balance between hectic city life and simplistic pure nature.  

while talking with greg, he explained how being a raw foodist has altered his perspectives on things, whether it be nature, politics, his own happiness and mainly being a part of the earth.  being a raw foodist is also a statement, against corporations, we almost view it as a positive rebellion. greg was talking to us about a segment recently on 20/20 and how they negatively portrayed raw food and the culture behind it, they compare it to orthorexia . greg was quick to point out who owns abc news and how corporations affect their portrayal of raw food.  check the video out for yourself  (http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerindex?id=5757006)